Free Republic

Friday in reaction to a Wisconsin jury finding Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on charges in the fatal shooting of two people during rioting last year in Kenosha, MSNBC “MTP Daily” host Chuck Todd warned that “gun owners with a certain ideology may feel incentivized now, may feel even emboldened.” Todd questioned if the Rittenhouse verdict sends an “uncomfortable message” to gun owners that they could kill someone in future protests and then claim self-defense.

Taiwan has become a focal point for tensions between the US and China. Many in the US have called for a commitment to defend the island against Chinese attack, but a war with China over Taiwan would likely be devastating. The US can and should help Taiwan improve its ability to defend itself and better deter China. Daniel L. Davis is a senior fellow for Defense Priorities and a former US Army lieutenant colonel.On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that US Special Forces and Marines had secretly been training Taiwanese troops on counter-invasion tactics. On Friday, the semi-official mouthpiece...

Israel's new UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, will face an atmosphere of support for Palestinian causes in the UN and an uphill battle in generating sympathy for Israeli causes. Palestinians are vigorously working to get the United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building passed. They are working quickly to get support from the organization's general assembly before Israel's new UN ambassador Ron Prosor, takes up his position. Israel will appoint their new UN ambassador after half a year spent with a temporary representative. Prosor, who has been serving as the ambassador in London will soon send his credentials to...

The day after Obama’s historic victory, Russia announced it would deploy short-range missles near Poland… Hamas fires rockets into Israel… Socialist dictator Hugo Chavez pretty jazzed about Obama victory…

BALI, Indonesia - Iran's president, emboldened by the support of Muslim nations, said Saturday he was willing to hold talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear agenda but not with Israel or countries that hold "bombs over our head." President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he has cooperated fully with the U.N. nuclear agency and the world has nothing to fear from his program to enrich uranium, which can be used for generating electricity or in making atomic weapons. The hardline leader spoke after meeting with heads of state and prime ministers from Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey and Malaysia and government ministers from Egypt...

One would like to think of Spain's repulsive Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, as just an unpleasant byproduct of last March's terrible terrorist attacks on Madrid commuter trains. Zapatero's only there because Spain's traumatized voters temporarily lost their senses in an election held just days after huge terror attacks and unexpectedly voted him in. But he's rapidly shaping up as something more nefarious than merely Jacques Chirac's faithful poodle. Politics are taking some strange disorienting directions in Spain now as a result of Zapatero's radical leftist government. Thursday, Spain's Basque Parliament voted 39-35 to scale back ties to Madrid,...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 - One trademark of President Bush's first term was his aversion to news conferences, which his staff says he often treated like trips to the dentist. So on the morning after Mr. Bush's re-election, Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, was taken aback when the president told him he was ready to hold a news conference that Mr. Bartlett had suggested, win or lose, the week before. "I didn't have to convince him or anything," Mr. Bartlett said. "Without me prompting him, he brought it up." It was a small but telling change for a president...